NATCHEZ – The West Lincoln Bears capturedthe Region 7-1A championship for the third year in a row with animpressive 48-45 win over the defending State 2A champion PineyWoods Tornadoes in a jam-packed Cathedral Gymnasium Fridaynight.

    In the boys consolation game, the host Cathedral Green Wave managedto pull away from the Hinds AHS Bulldogs in the fourth quarter tosecure a 57-50 victory.

    All four boys’ teams have qualified for the opening round of theSouth 1A State Playoffs that begin Tuesday at 7 p.m.

    West Lincoln (24-4) entertains the French Camp Academy Panthers,Piney Woods (13-10) hosts the Noxapater Tigers, Cathedral visitsthe West Lowndes Panthers and Hinds AHS invades the East OktibbehaEagles

West Lincoln 48, Piney Woods45

    Basketball fans gathered from far and wide to witness this epicbattle between heavyweight teams. In front of the jam-packed gym,West Lincoln and Piney Woods showcased their talents with plenty ofoffensive fireworks and defensive slugfests as fans remained gluein their seats.

    In the first quarter, Piney Woods quickly jumped to a 6-0 leadbefore West Lincoln charged back lead 28-21 over the Tornadoes athalftime.

    In the second half, the epic show continued. Both teams battledback and forth. The Bears held a 42-36 lead after three quarters ofaction. In the fourth, the battle was even tougher as West Lincolnsaw their lead slip away and Piney Woods captured 1-point advantagewith 2 minutes remaining.

    The Bears rallied to reclaim the 47-45 lead with a 1 minute leftwhen Jared Case nailed long range 3-pointer from the top of thekey. Piney Woods struggled to create something offensively as WestLincoln’s defense tightened up to a choke hold and forced theTornadoes to turnover the ball and take bad shots.

    Case managed to tack on one of two free throws with 8 seconds leftto increase the Bears lead to 48-45 and deny a Piney Woods finalattempt to tie the game.

    West Lincoln had three players score in double figures. Casedirected the Bears with a team-high 18 points and grabbed 6rebounds. Freshman guard Duane Marshall contributed 14 points.Junior forward Lucas Burris provided 11 points and 6 rebounds.

    “This was a great game,” said West Lincoln coach Lane Young. “Bothteams left it all on the court. Piney Woods executed really well inthe fourth quarter and made a run at us. Our defense stepped up bigtonight. Overall, I was really pleased with our effort. The guysplayed a lot better than they did in the previous two meetings.”Both Piney Woods wins.

    Senior forward Phillip Jones poured in a game-high 27 points tolead the Tornadoes. Jonathan Daniels chipped in 10points.  

    “This was a great game between two good teams,” said Piney Woodscoach Lemuel Jones. “West Lincoln managed to make the plays theyneeded at the end to win the game.”

Cathedral 57, Hinds AHS50

    The Green Wave (16-13) stepped up in the fourth quarter as theymanaged to off Hinds AHS for the win. Senior forward D.J. Perrypoured in a game-high 17 points to lead Cathedral. Senior guardCaleb Upton contributed 15 points.

    Hind AHS (19-9) was led in scoring by sophomore guard DeandreBolton with a team-high 15 points.